Moving from Impunity to Accountability in Post-War Liberia: Possibilities, Cautions, and Challenges

International Journal of Legal Information the Official Journal of the International Association of Law Libraries Volume 33 Issue 3 Winter 2005 Article 5 1-1-2005 Moving from Impunity to Accountability in PostWar Liberia: Possibilities, Cautions, and Challenges Rena L. Scott Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California Berkeley, J.D. 2005 Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/ijli The International Journal of Legal Information is produced by The International Association of Law Libraries. Recommended Citation Scott, Rena L. (2005) "Moving from Impunity to Accountability in Post-War Liberia: Possibilities, Cautions, and Challenges," International Journal of Legal Information: Vol. 33: Iss. 3, Article 5. Available at: http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/ijli/vol33/iss3/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Scholarship@Cornell Law: A Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Journal of Legal Information by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Cornell Law: A Digital Repository. For more information, please contact . Moving from Impunity to Accountability in Post-War Liberia: Possibilities, Cautions, and Challenges RENA L. SCOTT∗ Abstract Liberia has become the quintessential example of an African failed state. Though Liberia’s civil war is officially over, war criminals are free and some are even helping run the transitional government under the authority of Liberia’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). This peace agreement calls for the consideration of a general amnesty for those involved in the Liberian civil war alongside the parceling of governmental functions among members of various rebel groups. The drafters of the agreement claim that this was the only viable solution for sustainable peace in Liberia. Meanwhile, Charles Taylor relaxes in Nigeria’s resort city of Calabar. To contrast Liberia, Sierra Leone took the brave step of implementing the SCSL when it realized that its peace agreement – which had similar goals and structure to Liberia’s – was a failure. Sierra Leone’s decision signals a desire to begin the transition to rule of law and the end of rule by impunity. Sierra Leone can be a model for Liberia. This Comment revisits the colonial period in Liberia to track the growth of a culture of impunity. This rule by Liberian elites, without answering to their own people, has directly caused a failure of the Liberian state. I suggest that a Special Court for Liberia, instead of less punitive transitional mechanisms, would create a hands-on approach to ∗ Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California Berkeley, J.D. 2005. The thought to write on transitional justice in Liberia came to me while I was an extern in the chambers of Judge Terry Hatter Jr., US District Judge, Central District of California. This was the summer that Charles Taylor departed Liberia for exile in Nigeria. My thoughts on all of the issues that arose after that summer of 2003 are in this paper. I would like to thank the following people for inspiration, guidance, and hard work in getting this piece together: David K. Leonard, Dean of Inter Area Studies U.C. Berkeley, Angela Harris, Professor of Law Boalt Hall School of Law, and Kathleen Savage. 345 346 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEGAL INFORMATION [Vol. 33:3 building the respect for a tradition of rule of law and justice in a country that lacks such a tradition. If the intervention of the transitional government of Liberia and the international community is at the level of the exercise of elite power instead of at the level of reconciliation among the masses (which is where the TRC focuses its energies)-through the use of punitive mechanisms such as prosecution in a hybrid court of law, Liberia can begin to end the culture of impunity and ring in a sustainable peace. In pursuing this goal of the implementation of the Special Court for Liberia, the CPA would need to be revised to reflect the concerns expressed in this Comment. Primarily, a revised CPA must reject amnesty for war crimes and crimes against humanity as was done in Sierra Leone. Table of Contents Introduction I. Liberia and It’s Neighbor’s History of Exclusions, Grievances, and Greed A. Early Political, Social, and Economic History of Africa’s First Republic under Black Leadership B. Indigenous Rule under President Doe C. The Effects of Charles Taylor’s War Without End: Civil War 1989-1997, 2001-2003 D. Sierra Leone’s Civil War: Comparing Civil Wars E. Abuses Committed in Sierra Leone and Liberia II. Failed States and the Culture of Impunity A. Colonial Origins of the Culture of Impunity and the Failed State Phenomenon B. Sierra Leone and Liberia’s Peace Agreements: Why the Peace Agreement Approach Furthers the Culture of Impunity 1. Sierra Leone’s Lome Accord: The First Path Taken 2. Liberia’s Path to Peace?: The Comprehensive Peace Agreement III. The Justice Approach to Ending the Culture of Impunity A. The Special Court for Sierra Leone: The New Path Forward B. Dominant Methods of Addressing the Aftermath of Violence, Just as Many Unanswered Questions and Possibly the Wrong Target: Amnesty, Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, and Traditional Mechanisms for Peace and Reconciliation in Liberia 1. The Amnesty as a Transitional Mechanism: Too Many Unanswered Questions 2. Truth and Reconciliation Commissions: 347 352 352 356 357 359 360 362 363 372 372 374 383 386 389 391 2005] RENA L. SCOTT The Wrong Target 3. Traditional Mechanisms of Dispute Resolution: What is Traditional? C. In Defense of Trials: Why Punish? 1. The Modern Critique of the Use of Trials during Transitional Periods 2. Evidence that Trials Might Have a Positive Effect on Political and Social Change D. Lessons from Colonialism, Post-Colonialism: Preliminary Justification for A Special Court for Liberia 1. Ending the Culture of Impunity while Maintaining a Fragile Peace: Changing the Calculation of Liberian Politicians 2. Addressing Crimes Specific to the Liberian Context and Rebuilding Liberia’s National Courts 3. The Role of International Involvement and Equal Attention to Crises of Similar Impact E. Ensuring Legitimacy through a Strong U.S. Commitment to Liberia Conclusion 347 392 394 396 396 398 402 403 407 410 411 417 INTRODUCTION Liberia is the classic portrait of a failed state.1 Today, Liberia is one of the world’s poorest countries. According to World Bank indicators, 46% of its population is below the poverty line compared to 37% for the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa; the population of Liberia is generally undereducated, with a literacy rate of 44.1%; and Liberia faces a debt that cannot be realistically repaid.2 Two civil wars have left an estimated 200,000 people dead, created at least 250,000 new refugees, and displaced approximately 350,000.3 This state of affairs did not arise overnight, and contrary to popular opinion, Liberia’s situation is not a result of deep r (...truncated)